A lady called me to get a quote for a story. She was writing a story about job-search tips. I gave her a tip (I think it was about salary negotiation) and when the story came out, the lady who wrote the story sent me the link. As I read through the job-search tips, I got depressed. A lot of them were awful, “here are new ways to grovel” tips, but one bit of advice really stood out. “Since lots of employers won’t hire people who are unemployed,” this advice-giver began, “don’t indicate on your LinkedIn profile if you’re out of work.”

Let’s break this horrendous advice down. First off, do you think a person is going to make it through the whole interview process without having to share the news that he or she isn’t working? Isn’t that going to emerge sooner rather than later, like when the recruiter at this unemployed-people-hating company asks, “So, are you still working at Domino’s Pizza?” Are you going to lie, at that point? Is that what the job-search-advice-giver is recommending that a job-seeker in that situation do?

Way beyond the practical considerations is the question of self-esteem. We don’t have to teach job-seekers to grovel. If there truly are employers out there whose policy is to shun a job-hunter simply because he or she is unemployed, would you really want to work there in the first place? Or have we gone so far down the path of believing that employers hold all the cards and job-seekers are dogmeat that we’ve reduced the career-advice arena to instructions on how to bow and scrape more effectively?

I’m disgusted. I lead tons of job-search workshops (and a free, monthly webinar series for Northwestern University – sign up here) and I’ve never found it productive, much less appropriate, to tell a job-seeker to hide anything about his or her past or present just to get a job. We don’t have to lie and say we’re working when we really aren’t working. We don’t have to pretend to be straight when we’re actually gay, or pretend to be someone other than ourselves in any other way. Why would a hiring manager or an HR person ever want us to do any of that pretending?

There are plenty of employers who understand that the best team members to have are the ones who are real and vibrant and switched-on and human all the time. Those organizations don’t want sheep and zombies filling their payrolls. You can usually tell in the first interactions with an organization whether the experience of being included in its Selection Pipeline will be pleasant or awful. If the people you’re talking with (or the terse auto-responders you’re finding in your inbox) are robots and Clone Troopers, your task is simple. Move on! The sooner you get out of Dodge after you get those signals, the more quickly the universe will reward you for your pluck with better opportunities.

I met a young woman who’d just been on a job interview where the interviewer told her, “Our concern about hiring a 27-year-old is that you may bring a lot of your own ideas.” A message like that is a clear sign that the universe doesn’t want you to squash yourself into tiny boxes. We all get fearful, and many of us have tried to squeeze ourselves into such tight spaces that we could barely breathe after six months on the job. The way it usually works, the energy gets so bad that something has to shift, and you’re either ridden out of town on a rail or your body makes its will known through a mystery illness that incapacitates you for work. You can’t fool Mother Nature.

The good news is that it isn’t necessary to grovel on a job search. It isn’t even helpful. The organizations and leaders who understand that mojofied people make the best coworkers don’t want you to act like a pale, obedient version of yourself. They want you whole. When you start to tell the truth on your job search and graciously bail on insulting job-search situations, those worthy-of-you employers will begin to show up. It never fails!

“Easy for you to say,” repeat fearful job-seekers when I share this advice with them. I understand fear – everyone has been there at one time or another. When people adopt that frame (you aren’t going to pay my rent, Liz Ryan — let me grovel if I want to!) I have learned to say “That’s fine — do what you have to do.” Often people in that fearful state will grovel their way into a crappy job, stay three months, find their voice and mojo there, and hit the road again.

It is true what sages have always said: circumstances favor people who commit to follow their paths. Ignore the bleeting advice of people who’d tell you to squash your power and dim your flame, just for a below-market paycheck. Don’t listen to them.

You are amazing and complete as you are, with or without that ‘must-have’ job requirement or some stupid certification. You bring an invaluable gift to the organization that finally snags you. The organizations that get you, also deserve you. The ones that would ask (much less demand) that you climb over piles of broken glass just for the privilege of an audience with His Majesty, definitely do not.

While you should never grovel, you should ALWAYS dumb-down your resume to fit the job description. NOBODY hires overqualified individuals, period. NOBODY.

Unfortunately, the general rule that the higher the position, the longer it takes to find a job, catches people who’ve previously held high positions “in the middle” – overqualified for available jobs, while possibly waiting years for a job for which they are qualified.

I guy I know is a retired Rear Admiral and a former Deputy Undersecretary of . With a child to put thru school, he is actively seeking work – and NOT finding it! His job search has consumed two years, hundreds of applications, and a world wide search.

Another friend of mine is a former US State Department missile expert and White House senior advisor. Ditto for him – one or two days of consulting work here and there, and not a single offer of full employment.

In my own case, I am a former CEO, Company President, and CFO who formerly took an international company public. With multiple patents in nuclear physics in my past, you’d think my own search would be easy. 500 highly customized job applications and two years later, I’ve had 3 interviews and no offers.

I read a story on Bloomberg about a guy trying to get a job as a University Professor. It’s true he’d quit his former job as a professor, but it was because he was elected the governor of his state! An able attorney, he’d also served time as a judge. But no one wanted to hire him as a professor anymore. Overqualified!

Take it from me… dumbing down your resume is NOT lying! It’s simply presenting the facts the decision maker is seeking, but without injecting noise or irrelevant data. Nobody wants to hire someone more senior than they are.

Liz Ryan is a former Fortune 500 HR executive and the CEO of Human Workplace, an online community and consulting firm focused on reinventing work and career education. She is working with the Denver Post to bring the best expert advice on work place issues and tips to improve your career. Note: Liz Ryan was selected for her expertise, but her opinions are solely her own. We are not endorsing or advocating her business.